Saint Ludger of Utrecht

Also known as

• Apostle of Saxony
• Ludger of Münster
• Liudger, Ludiger

Additional Memorials

• 24 April (translation of relics)
• 3 October (translation of relics)

Profile

Son of Thiadgrim and Liafburg, wealthy Frisian nobles. Brother of Saint Gerburgis and Saint Hildegrin. Saw Saint Boniface preach in 753, and was greatly moved. Studied at Utrecht, Netherlands under Saint Gregory of Utrecht. Studied three and a half years in England under Blessed Alcuin. Deacon.

Returned to the Netherlands in 773 as a missionary. Sent to Deventer in 775 to restore a chapel destroyed by pagan Saxons, and to recover the relics of Saint Lebwin, who had built the chapel. Taught school at Utrecht. Destroyed pagan idols and places of worship in the areas west of Lauwers Zee after they were Christianized. Ordained in 777 at Cologne, Germany. Missionary to Friesland, mainly around Ostergau and Dokkum, from 777 to 784, returning each fall to Utrecht to teach in the cathedral school. Left the area in 784 when pagan Saxons invaded and expelled all priests.

Pilgrim to Rome, Italy in 785. Met with Pope Adrian I, and the two exchanged counsel. Lived as a Benedictine monk at Monte Cassino, Italy from 785 to 787, but did not take vows. At the request of Charlemagne, he returned to Friesland as a missionary. It was a successful expedition, and he built a monastery in Werden, Germany to serve as a base. Reported to have cured the blindness of, and thus caused the conversion of the blind pagan bard Berulef.

Refused the bishopric of Trier, Germany in 793. Missionary to the Saxons. Built a monastery at Mimigernaford as the center of this missionary work, and served as its abbot. The word monasterium led to the current name of the city that grew up around the house - Münster. Built several small chapels throughout the region. First bishop of Münster in 804, being ordained at Westphalia.

Ludger's health failed in later years, but he never reduced his work load. No matter how busy or dangerous his outside life, he never neglected his time of prayer and meditation, it being a source of the strength to do everything else. The man's life can be summed up in two facts -

• he was reprimanded and denounced only once during his bishopric - for spending more on charity than on church decoration
• on the day of his death, he celebrated Mass - twice.

Born

c.743 at Zuilen, Friesland (modern Netherlands)

Died

• in the evening of Passion Sunday, 26 March 809 of natural causes
• buried at Werden, Germany
• relics also at Münster and Billerbeck, Germany

Patronage

• 2 dioceses
• 13 cities

Representation

• bishop holding a cathedral
• bishop holding a church and a book
• bishop reciting his Breviary
• bishop with a swan on either side
• bishop with a goose or geese

Blessed Maddalena Caterina Morano

Profile

Her father and older sister died when Maddalena was 8 years old, and the girl had to work to help support her large family. She managed to work and study, and in 1866 she graduated as an elementary school teacher. She wanted to enter religious life, but her family needed her, and she worked for 12 years as a teacher in rural Montaldo, Italy teaching catechism in her parish.

In 1878, having helped raise her siblings, and saved enough to insure her mother‘s future, Maddalena entered the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, the congregation founded six years earlier by Saint John Bosco. In 1881 she was sent to Trecastagni in the Diocese of Catania, Sicily, and took charge of an existing institute for women, inspiring it with Salesian principles.

Sicily became her second home. She opened new houses, set up after-school activities and sewing classes, trained teachers, and taught catechism. She spent 25 years in Sicily, serving her community as local and provincial superior, guiding novices, and faithfully living the charism of Mother Maria Mazzarello, co-foundress of the institute.

Saint Castulus of Rome

Also known as

Profile

Married to Saint Irene of Rome. Military officer in the imperial palace in Rome during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. A quiet Christian, he was denounced to authorities for sheltering fellow Christians; arrested, tortured and martyred.

Died

• buried alive in 288 on the Via Labicana outside Rome, Italy
• a cemetery named for him developed on the land
• a church dedicated to him was built in the 7th century on the site of his execution
• relics transferred to a Benedictine monastery in Moosburg an der Isar, Germany c.768
• relics transferred to Landshut, Germany in 1604

Representation

Saint Bercharius

Also known as

Bercario, Bererus

Profile

Godson of Saint Nivard of Rheims; student of Saint Remaclus of Maestricht. Monk at Luxeuil Abbey under the leadership of Saint Walbert. First abbot of Hautvillers Abbey; he expanded it and built other houses, one of which was populated by brothers who were redeemed slaves. First abbot of Montier-en-Der Abbey. Pilgrim to Rome, Italy and to the Holy Lands, bringing back relics for his houses. Venerated as a martyr as he died defending the principles of his religious order.

Born

636 in Aquitaine (in modern France)

Died

• fatally stabbed on Holy Thursday, 28 March 696 at Moutier-en-Der Abbey by his godson, a monk named Daguin, whom Bercharius had reprimanded
• died on Easter Sunday, 31 March 696 forgiving his killer
• relics taken to a church in Burgundy, France in the 9th century to protect them from invading Normans, but were returned to the abbey by 924
• some relics taken to the collegiate church of Châteauvillain, Haute-Marne, France, but were destroyed in the anti-Christian excesses of the French Revolution

Saint Peter of Sebaste

Profile

Youngest of ten children born to Saint Basil the Elder and Saint Emmelia; brother of Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, and Saint Macrina the Younger. His father died when Peter was an infant, and he was raised and educated by Saint Macrina. Monk in a monastery in Armenia on the Iris River, a house that had been founded by his parents and was headed by his brother Basil. Abbot of the house in 362. Worked to help people suffering in a famine in Pontus and Cappadocia. Ordained in 370. Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia in 380. Fought fiercely against Arianism in his see. Attended the General Council of Constantinople in 381.

Born

c.340 in Caesarea, Cappadocia

Died

Saint Basil the Younger

Profile

Hermit near Constantinople. Being a foreigner, and being odd in his appearance and behavior, he was arrested, questioned and tortured as a spy, but his gift of miracles and prophecy convinced his captors that he was just a holy man, and they freed him. Friend of Saint Theodora of Constantinople. He later publicly denouced the immorality of the area's aristocracy, including Princess Anastasia, which led to further persecution by the authorities.

Died

Saint Eutychius of Alexandria

Profile

Sub-deacon in Alexandria, Egypt and leader of a group of Christians who supported Saint Athanasius of Alexandria and opposed Arianism. Arrested, scourged and condemned to slavery in the mines for adhering to orthodox Christianity. Martyr.

Died

from abuse and exhaustion while on the road to the mines in Egypt in 356

Saint Barontius of Pistoia

Also known as

Barontus, Baronce, Baronto, Baronzio

Profile

Member of the French nobility and a courtier to King Theirry II. Married and a father. Retired to become a monk at Lonrey, France. After receiving a vision, he moved to become a hermit near Pistoia, Italy. Friend of Saint Desiderius of Pistoia.